Chapter Text
The door open, Katara stormed into the apartment, arms flapping. “Guys, hurry up! The flight leaves in four hours! It could take time to get a taxi! There could be traffic! The plane could leave early! When we get to Kyoshi Island, there could be a line at customs! Come on!”
Aang and Zuko watched her dash back to her apartment across the hall.
“Six hour trip to Kyoshi Island,” Zuko mumbled. “That’s a lot of Katara.” He sighed, but then grinned, picking up a camera excitedly. “Kyoshi, baby! Here we go!” He took a frantic picture of Aang, who smiled at his friend in amusement.
“Got your passport?” Zuko hadn’t gotten to travel a lot until they were adults, and he was still not quite used to it.
Zuko shrugged, hauling his suitcase behind him towards the door. “Yeah, in my third drawer on my dresser. You don’t want to lose that.”
Aang raised an eyebrow. Zuko’s eyes suddenly lit up with realization and he ran into his room. “Oh!”
Aang chuckled, shaking his head. “There it is.”
After arriving in Kyoshi, Zuko had been insistent on dragging his best friend everywhere to see everything. He’d tried to drag Mai and Azula along, too, but they’d just said they were busy - lying, clearly, but Zuko didn’t press them. He loved his girlfriend and his sister, but he was well aware that Aang was more fun to travel with anyways.
Zuko held a camera up to the beautiful village. The camera swung around to Aang, who had to duck to get out of the way of it. “Here! I want to be the on camera guy.” Zuko passed it over to Aang, then pulled out a pop-out map of Kyoshi. “First stop, Kyoshi’s Abbey!”
“What is that?” Aang asked, gesturing to the map.
“It’s Kyoshi, baby! All right, the hotel’s here.” He pointed at the map, then frowned. “Wait. No, we wanna go… No. I know.” He set down the map and gave Aang a nod, grim. “I’m gonna have to go into the map.” Zuko took a step into the pop-up streets of Kyoshi Island. Aang did his best not to keel over laughing.
“Uh, Zuko - ”
“I got it!” He picked up the map excitedly after stepping off, and started walking with the thing out in front of him. “Here we go.”
Aang shook his head at Zuko’s antics, but followed anyways. Luckily, Aang knew Kyoshi Island pretty well, so he just had to make sure they stayed together, and they wouldn’t get lost. Well, too badly lost, anyhow.
—————————
Katara walked stiffly beside her brother and his fiancé as Suki vented about the mishaps of their wedding: “…and that was all before 10 o’clock! The caterer rang and said it was going to be Chicken Kiev instead of Chicken Tarragon. And then the florist phoned to say there aren’t any tulips. Oh, and the cellist has carpel-tunnel syndrome. We’re not gonna be - ”
“Whoah-whoah-whoah!” Sokka grabbed Suki’s shoulder. He held up a time-out signal. “Suki, honey, okay?”
Suki gaped at him. “Well, up yours, too!”
“What!? No! No! Th-that’s time out!”
“Oh, sorry…”
“Sweetie, you gotta relax. Everything’s gonna be great, okay? Come on, come on.” He wrapped an arm around her and they continued walking towards the venue.
Katara pursed her lips and glanced at Suki. “Chicken Kiev?”
“Mm-hmm!” Sokka glared at her, jaw clenched. “Doesn’t that sound delicious at the last minute?”
“Yeah, y’know, but…” Katara hesitated, her inner chef coming alive as she spoke. “Something like salmon which would be so much more elegant than the chicken. And, you wouldn’t have to worry about the salmonella.” Immeditaley Sokka pushed her with the arm draped around Suki. Katara stumbled to her footing again, shooting daggers at her brother. “Anyways…I can’t wait to see this place you’re getting married!”
“Yes, this place is beautiful. Suki’s parents got married here.”
Suki shook her head. “I still can’t believe they’re tearing it down. It really is the most lovely building you’ll ever see.” They rounded the edge of the alley, past a gate, and Suki pointed excitedly. “I mean it’s over…oh my spirits!”
The building was no more than a large pile of rubble, full of construction signs and workers. Katara, knowing Suki would be even more freaked out now, smiled encouragingly. “It’s…nice?”
Sokka shot her another look before all three took off towards the hall. While Sokk and Suki lamented, Katara went over to a worker.
“Hey, what’s going on? We had this place booked for a wedding!” She snapped angrily.
The man, flustered, shrugged. “Sorry, ma’am, we started tearing down early.”
Katara graoned loudly. “Fuck. This is just wonderful, isn’t it?” Even if it was her brother’s wedding, she still wanted it to be perfect. It might be the only wedding she got to plan, after all.
Katara ran back into the hall to find Sokka and Suki staring at the rubble in utter disbelief and heartbreak. “Okay, I talked to the guy with the shovel and I found out what happened.”
Sokka jogged up to her. “What? What?”
“They torn it down a few days early.”
Sokka let out a whine and slumped against the wall.
Katara was getting her bridesmaid dress fitted while Suki sat sadly by her. “You know,” she said. “If everything’s really going so bad…you could always postpone.”
Suki, taking a break from complaining, stared up at Katara is shock. “Postpone?”
“Yeah. Ask everyone to fly out later when things are better. When you have a nice place to get married, when you have tulips, and a cellist, and whatever chicken you want.” She paused, then grinned. “Or salmon. Mmmmmm, salmon.”
Suki smirked at her future sister-in-law, rolling her eyes. “Or salmon,” she agreed. Suki stood and started pacing. “You really do make a good point…we could just postpone until things are perfect.” She sighed and smiled at Katara. “Oh, thank you!” She went to hug Katara, then remembered the seamstress at her feet. “Right, well, I’m off to talk to Sokka, then. Bye, hon, love you! And thank you, again!” Suki sent a little wave to Katara and was off. Katara watched her go with a smile. Those two really did deserve the perfect wedding.
A needle pricked her. Katara winced.
“Sorry.”
“No worries.” Just the first pain of many, anyways. After all, this wasn’t her wedding.
After her fitting, Katara stopped by Aang and Zuko’s room. As she entered, Zuko immediately shushed her, and gestured to the old-school video camera he was playing a video on. Katara giggled and went over to her friends, peering between them at the screen. Zuko was parading about in the video, wearing a stupidly garish Kyoshi Island hat and pointing at everything while Aang laughed behind the camera.
“You two had fun?” she asked.
Aang looked at her, blushing in embarrassment. “It was great. A long day, but great.”
“It was awesome!” Zuko kicked his feet like a child. “I’m so happy we’re here! I need to thank Sokka for getting married again!”
Just then the door opened, showing Sokka. “Perfect timing!” Zuko exclaimed.
“Hi.” His gazed snapped to Katara. “I understand you had a little talk with Suki.”
Katara grinned. “Yes, I did, and you are welcome!”
Sokka took a step forward. “Am I? And was it your idea to postpone the wedding?”
Katara hadn’t seen her brother this angry since she told him about Jet cheating on her. “Ummmmm…”
Aang coughed weakly. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” He skidded his way to his suite’s bathroom.
Zuko leapt up, following his roommate. “Wait up!”
Katara barely had time to look back at Sokka before he was laughing angrily. “Hey-hey, since you’re the ‘fix-it’ lady, here’s a pickle, what do you do when the bride says she doesn’t want to have the wedding at all?”
Katara gasped. “She said that?!”
“Yeah.”
“Why!?”
Sokka threw his hands into the air. “I don’t know, I told her it was stupid to put off the wedding just because the hall was gone and she, like, flipped out!”
Something clicked at his words. Katara knew she and Suki had a lot in common, and had this been her fiancé, she would have thrown a fit, too. “Spirits. You’re even dumber than I am!”
Sokka furrowed his brow, panic entering his eyes. “Excuse me?”
“Sokka, how long have you been planning this wedding?”
“I-I don’t know. Two months?”
Katara shook her head. “Suki has probably been planning it since she was five! Ever since the first time she took a pillowcase and hung it off the back of her head. That’s what we did! We dreamed about the perfect wedding, and the perfect place, with the perfect four-tiered wedding cake…” She choked on her own words. “…with the little people on top.” She would never get any of this, would she? A box of tissues were tossed from the bathroom and to Sokka, who passed them to his sister. “Th-thanks,” she sniffled. “B-but the most important part is that we had the perfect guy who understood just how important all that other stuff was.” Her heart ached as she spoke, not caring if she was projecting onto her sister-in-law. Suki probably felt at least somewhat the same.
Sokka sighed. “I had no idea. You’re right, she probably has…Come on, you gotta help me figure out what to do. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Come on.” Sokka gave Katara a one-arm hug and the pair left the suite.
Katara hauled Suki into the broken hall.
“Katara, why have you brought me here of all places?!” The bride seethed.
“You’ll see.”
Suki shook her head, pursing her lips. “I tell you, this wedding is not going to happen!” Just as she uttered the last word, fairy lights lit up the room. Suki’s eyes widened in amazement. “Oh, spirits…”
Sokka appeared by the plug-in. “Okay? B-but imagine a lot more lights, okay?” He walked towards her. “And-and y’know fewer bricks, and-and-and flowers, and candles…” He looked around, then back up at the love of his life.
“And the musicians, look, they can go over here!” Katara ran over to an alcove. “Okay? And the chairs can face this way, and…” She stopped, catching Sokka’s eyes. She shied away and pointed to him. “You go.”
Sokka chuckled and looked back at Suki, whose eyes were brimming with tears. “But-but, if you don’t love this, we’ll do it in any other place at any other time. Really, it’s fine, whatever you want.”
Suki hiccuped a sob and wrapped her arms around Sokka. “It’s perfect.”
“And, I don’t know, if it starts to rain…” Sokka sighed, looking up at the non-existent ceiling.
“Well then we’ll get wet,” Suki finished. She leaned in and kissed him sweetly.
Katara watched the scene and sighed happily. “Awww.” She looked away, suddenly bitter. “And I don’t even have a date.”
——————
Aang stood at the table for the rehearsal dinner and clinked his glass. “I’d like to toast Sokka and Suki. Of course, my big toast will be tomorrow at the wedding, so this is kind of my little toast or Melba toast, if you will.” Aang looked around. No laughs. Shit. He swallowed and laughed nervously. That was unexpected. “Okay… I’ve, uh, I’ve known Sokka for a long time. In fact, I knew him when he was going out with his first girlfriend.” He paused, still not sure if he should really tell the joke…but his best friend had insisted. So, begrudgingly, he choked out, “And I thought things were going to work out for him…Until the day he over inflated her.” Sokka immediatley burst out laughing, but no one else did. Everybody looked confused, more than anything. Aang squeaked. “Oh, spirits…Anyways…congratulations, Sokka and Suki!” He raised his glass and downed in quickly, sinking into his chair in embarrassment.
“Why did you make that inflatable doll joke?” Suki asked, leaning over.
“It was my idea!” Sokka said. “Funny, right?”
Suki sighed, but smiled at him sweetly. “Sure, honey.” She looked over at Aang and mouthed, “Not for the wedding, please.”
Aang just nodded lamely. He still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to say that out loud. Fuck, Katara had heard that joke. He glanced at her across the table. She arched an eyebrow and snickered.
Zuko stood up next, giving his own speech as ‘best man number two.’ Aang couldn’t even hear him, still feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
Aang sat with Katara later that evening, still wallowing in his failure.
“I was laughing,” she said, patting his knee.
Aang sighed, looking over at his friend, pained. “Out loud?”
She squirmed. “Well, I didn’t want everyone to think I was stupid…”
Aang leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling and accepted defeat. “So, how are you doing?” He knew Katara was a little jealous, always being the hopeless romantic and having her last attempts at love not turn out the best. Aang would love to ask her out himself, but, well…well, that just complicated their friendship, didn’t it?
“Sokka’s getting married. I’m happy. I’m not going to let anything spoil that.” Katara smiled at him, but Aang knew it wasn’t entirely genuine.
A man walked up to them, clearly drunk. “I just want to say that Sokka is wonderful young man.”
Katara laughed. “Uh, thanks! We - we like him.” She patted Aang’s knee again and he laughed, too.
The man stared at Katara a moment, his eyes lingering, then shook his head. “Spirits! You must have been a teenager when you had him!”
Katara’s eyes snapped open wide, her mouth gaping in horror as the stranger limped away. Her grip on Aang’s knee tightened dangerously. He grabbed hold of her hand and squeezed.
“That…didn’t just happen…”
“Hey, hey, the guy was drunk, okay? There’s no way you look like Sokka’s mother.”
“Then why would he say it?” Katara snapped, her eyes welling with tears.
“Because he’s drunk!” Aang reiterated. “He came up to me earlier and thanked me for my very moving performance in Titanic!”
Katara let out a sob. “Oh, my family’s right, I’m never going to get married!”
Aang pursed his lips. “You know what? No, that is…” He shook his head, sighing. “Who…wouldn’t…want you?” I want you.
Katara grunted, turning away. “Oh, please! I’m a single mom, with a twenty-six-year-old son!”
Aang was still panicking when Sokka opened the door. Aang slammed his arm over the right-side of the bed, forever thankful Zuko had slept in Mai’s room last night.
“I’m getting married today! Whoo-hoo!” Sokka spun around, pumping his fist in the air.
“Morning, Sokka!” Aang pulled the covers up around his chin, smiling at Sokka as genuinely as he could.
“I’m getting married today!”
“Yeah, you are!”
“Aaaaa whooo-hoo!” Sokka did another fist-pump and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
The covers moved aside as Katara popped up. “Do you think he knew I was here?” she squeaked.
Aang swung his head over to his bed-mate, last night’s escapades still running rampant through his mind. Her skin, her kisses, her moans… Aang bit back a groan and looked away as she swung her head to look back at him.
“Well!” he said, throat feeling extremely dry. “I’ve - I’ve never done that with you before!”
Katara laughed uneasily. “Nope.”
“So, ahhh…how are you? How ya…how ya…you okay?” Aang fiddled nervously with the blanket.
“Yep, yep…you?” Katara blinked at him, her cheeks turning bright red.
“Yes…yes…uh-huh, you?” Aang looked back over, then paused. “Well we did you…”
Katara drummed her fingers against her arm. “Well…I’d better get going.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely.” Aang swallowed, trying not to want her to stay here to repeat last night over and over and over again.
Katara hesitantly scooted the edge of the bed. “…Could you not look?”
“I don’t want to look!”
——————
Zuko caught up with Aang just before the ceremony. “Hey, have you seen Katara?”
“What? I’m not seeing Katara!”
“…What?”
“What?”
Zuko was going to press on, but that could wait. “There was a problem with Suki’s dress, she needs Katara’s help. Do you know where she is?”
“No, okay!? What’s with the third degree?! Why don’t you just shine a light in my eyes?!” Aang yelled, startling his friend. He sounded insane for Aang’s standard of cheer for every occasion.
Zuko blinked, backing away. “Geez, dude, okay, I get it.”
Aang sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I, uh, don’t know where she is.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I got that. Thanks.” Zuko rolled his eyes. “Could you just make sure Sokka’s tux is good? I heard he was having trouble getting it on.”
He caught up to Katara a ways away, in the actual wedding hall. “There you are! Can you go check on Suki? She said she needed your help with a dress situation. And I’ll get the musicians prepped while Aang helps Sokka out with his tux.”
“Aang?!” Katara exclaimed. “Why would I care where Aang is?! You know uhh...You know sometimes I don’t even like Aang!”
Zuko stared back at her in utter bewilderment. “…Okay.”
Katara nodded curtly and turned to practically run to Suki’s aid.
Zuko, meanwhile, went towards the musicians and remininsced for not the last time how absolutely weird his friends were.
——————
Walking down the aisle was a nightmare. Katara couldn’t help but imagine them walking down their together to their own wedding… Katara shook her head.
“What we did last night…” Aang whispered to her.
“Stupid,” Katara blurted.
“Totally crazy stupid,” Aang agreed.
“What were we thinking?” Katara added.
Aang hesitated, then chuckled nervously. “I’m coming over tonight, though, right?”
Katara held back a groan and glanced up at him, nearly drowning in his sultry gaze. “Oh yeah,” she whispered. “Definitely.”